“When I’m not knee-deep in moonlight and grave-soil, espousing the charnel delights of death metal’s immortal old-school, I can be found belligerently vibrating in the eye of a thrash storm, armed with only the most hostile and confrontational of riffs. S. Vrath is a man that well knows my plight. Guitarist, vocalist, and sometimes bassist of Scythian and Craven Idolhere is an individual that understands the importance of a well-forged riff and the immediate implications for my beleaguered vertebrae.” If thine neck offends thee, thrash it out!
Thrash Metal
Lich King – The Omniclasm Review
“I love Lich King. If I had any musical talent, I’d beg them for an audition. I’ve dabbled with the idea of thrash-covering Sheer Heart Attack under the name Lich Queen. I would drive two hours to their Massachusetts headquarters to treat foot-out-the-door vocalist Tom Martin to a steak dinner and twenty minutes of hanky-panky if he agreed to stick around.” The Doctor is a whore.
All Hell – The Grave Alchemist Review
“Say what you will about Adam Clemans, but Skeletonwitch really lost something when they kicked Chance out, leaving me hungry for bands that captured the rowdiness of their early days. Enter All Hell.” Skeletons, witches and Hell, oh my!
Blood Feast – The Future State of Wicked Review
“New Jersey’s Blood Feast is yet another in a seemingly endless stream of resurrected relics that reaffirms I’ll never reach the bottom of the well o’ denim ‘n bullet belts.” Look what crawled out of the NJ swamp lands.
Harlott – Extinction Review
“Twenty-seventeen is turning out to be the year of thrash. On top of Kreator and Overkill, there’re new releases from Havok, Warbringer, Power Trip and, later this year, War Curse and Reign of Fury. In between all that, we also get a contribution from Australia’s own Harlott.” Thrash now comes with an extra “T” for added toughness.
Warbringer – Woe to the Vanquished Review
“Riding in the sizable wake of retro thrash darling Havok’s new album comes Warbringer, delivering Woe to the Vanquished, their fifth album of Bay Area inspired thrash. Over the course of their speedy career, Warbringer have been careful to conform their sound to what is considerable acceptable for the style, cleaving close to the Exodus, and Death Angel playbooks and eschewing pretty much every other influence.” Old thrash in a black coat.
Lantern – II: Morphosis Review
“There are a few bands, of late, grasping abundances of classic death metal in one hand and, with a fistful of innovation in the other, slamming the two together like some kind of malignant Large Hadron Collider®, letting that resulting abomination billow into our collective unsuspecting consciousness. Finland’s Lantern are such augurs of unrest, mixing a witches brew of black and death metal to trouble the mind and fray the nerves.” Were you thinking of LeBron James instead of Hadron Collider? It’s okay.
Panikk – Discarded Existence Review
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The saying, as American as “You bet yer ass,” sums up the modern “evolution” of thrash. Aside from a few tweaks, bands today shred much the same way they did 30 years ago, and that’s just the way Panikk like it. The Slovenians sport the same retro-thrash sound fans have been subjected to for over a decade, now complete with an Eastern European accent.” Panikk at the disco?
Temptation’s Wings – Skulthor Ebonblade Review
“A good concept album is hard to come by these days. When one does rear its ugly head, it seems to be the product of another band seeking the blessings of Helloween, Iced Earth, or Blind Guardian. Which isn’t all bad, considering some of my favorite concepts records are the American and German kind. What this means, though, is most of the concepts records I think of (except for King Diamond, of course) are of the power metal variety. What I don’t think of when I think concept record is doom metal; especially an independent doom metal outfit from North Carolina.” Skulthor who?? He’s not here, come back later.
The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult Review
“The patriot in me gets a little warm and fuzzy when contemplating the healthy state of the Australian metal scene. Whether it be divisive big guns Ne Obliviscaris and King Parrot, head-scratching experimental acts like Portal and Hope Drone, the thrashy old-school goodness of Hobbs’ Angel of Death and Deströyer 666, cutting edge modern tearaways Départe and Deadspace, or reliable tech death stalwarts Psycroptic, there’s a hugely satisfying selection of Aussie metal to satiate a wide variety of extreme tastes.” Is it just me or do Aussies like their D’s and P’s?